Business Drivers & Technology Imbalance

Recently I asked a group of pre-sales engineers what the split was, for the reps that they accompany, between talking about the prospect’s business drivers and the technology involved on their calls. We even coloured-in our own little pie-chart on it.

At best, the split was 50/50, mostly it was around 25/75.

My personal observations are very much in the latter camp. Worryingly nearer 0/100 in many cases.

The majority of sales people spend way too much time talking about the ‘technology’ (or whatever it is we specialise in), and nowhere near enough time discussing the overall driving forces at play on a business level.

The winners lead with business drivers. They talk about them a lot. Even with people traditionally viewed as holding entry or junior positions.

If you feel you are talking too much about you (and how things are done) and not enough about them (and why things are being done), then now’s the time to redress the balance.

Here’s three reasons why starting conversations around business drivers set you apart.

1. it embeds us in the prospect because we know the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ of a deal
2. it spreads our net wider inside the prospect and expands our reach so we have multiple contacts impacted by our project, and
3. it reduces the likelihood of inevitable downward price pressure and Dutch auctions as we can justify why we hold the premium we do